After a series of consecutive scandals that have shaken the Rama government, the leader of the opposition, Sali Berisha, seems to have articulated more clearly than ever the return of opposition action on the streets. In his last public appearances, Berisha has warned that the opposition is expected to take a decision on the resumption of protests, with the aim of removing Edi Rama from power. In this political climate, the recent scandal related to SHISH and its former director, Vlora Hyseni, has increased even more pressure on the government, but also on the opposition, as all critical eyes are on the latter, seeing how it will behave in the face of the scandal. In the case of the “Balluku” file, PD and the opposition were in a state of ‘castration’, for reasons that are conjectured. But even in the Vlora Hyseni-Ergys Agasi file, it is thought that segments of the opposition are also part of it.
According to the accusations and materials made public by the justice bodies, Vlora Hyseni is suspected of having offered support to Ergys Agasi while he was on the run. The case has affected one of the most important security institutions in the country and has brought strong political reactions. For the opposition, this development is another reason to demand the escalation of political action.
But this is exactly where the paradox begins.
In the square in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, a citizen protest has been taking place for about four months. There are approximately 117 or 118 days of resistance, with political demands directed against the Rama government. However, so far, the concrete result of this protest has been zero.
And precisely for this reason, Berisha seems to demand that the square be vacated. But will the activists, the so-called ‘flamingos’, accept this apparent pressure? They have warned that they will never allow the chief democrat to take the square and the pulpit as they accuse him of being part of the evil and protagonist, together with Edi Rama, of the honorable situation in which the country is.
Not only publicly, but also in closed meetings of the structures of the Democratic Party, he demanded that the opposition return to the square and take over the direction of the protests. Basically, it’s about getting the opposition back to what it does best: political action and street protest.
But here lies the big problem of the opposition.
Can it return to the square as a force that claims to represent civic anger, when in the same square citizens have been protesting for months without managing to produce a political change?
And above all, is the DP’s return to the streets enough to win the sympathy of a public that so far has not shown that it is convinced by this opposition action?
This is the real challenge facing Berisha. Because going public is one thing; convincing people to get behind you is quite another.
The opposition can resume the protest. It can fill the square with flags, banners and slogans. But what remains to be seen is whether this time it will manage to produce what the civic protest of these months has failed to produce, that is, sufficient political pressure to change reality.
